Construction and method of operating crankless internal combustion and explosion engines



Jan. 8, 1929. I 1,698,102.

A. ,G. MN MICHELL CONSTRUCTION AND METHOD OF OPERATING CRANKLEssINTERNAL COMBUSTION AND EXPLOSION ENGINES Filed July 1. 1927 entinvention), than existing internal. comvscribed in the above citedpatent. Asin all Patented Jan. 8, 15929..

UNITE resales lFFEQ ANTHONY GEORGE MALDON MICHELL, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA,ASSIGNOR,.-IBY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO MICHELL-CRANKLESS ENGINESOORIEORATION, OF NEW I YORK, N. 'Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

CONSTRUCTION AND METHOD OF OIERATING ORANKLESS INTERNAL COMBUSTION.

AND EXPLOSION ENGINES. I

Application filed July 1, 1927, Serial No. 202,897, and in Great BritainJuly 27, 1926.

engine, such engines being designated herein,

for the sake of brevity, crankless engines. The object of the inventionis to produce an engine of that type which shall have greaterfiexibility'and' which shall admit of more con-' venient and efficientmethods of control (which methods also form part of the presbustion orexplosion engines. By the expression greater flexibility is meant thatthe engine is capable of operating at any given speed, with a greaterrange of turning moment and consequently of'power, without limitationsdue to defective ignition or combustion of the fuel. It is a well-knowndefeet of existing internal combustion and explosion engines, that therange of turning moment which they are capable of exerting at givenspeed is comparatively small. For

this reasonit is usual to combine with such engines a variabletransmission gear, which enables the turning moment applied to the vdriven shaft to be increased or diminished independently of that exertedby the engine. It is one of the aims of the present invention todispense, either completely or partially,

with such transmission gear. In particular,

the improvements in construction and operation are intended to beapplied to internal "combustion and explosion engines of the Theaccompanying drawing is a longitudi-h nal sectional view through amulti-cylinder engine to illustrate one of the cylinder unitsincorporating a practical example of the invention.

- For the purpose of illustration the invention is shown in applicationto a crankless engine of the kind described in the specification ofUnited States Patent DIG-1,409,057, Reissue No. 15,756. For thedescription of the mechanism of thisengine, and for definition of theterms hereinafter used in describing that mechanism, reference isdirected to the above cited specification;

The engine is constructed with one or more internal combustion cylinderslwhi'ch operate on one or other of the well-known internal combustion orexplosion cycles, either fourstroke or two-stroke. Where a pluralit ofcylinders are arranged about the main s aft the construction may accordwith that -de-' such engines, the essential operations are that theworking fluid is compressed during the upward stroke of the piston 2with a rise of pressure depending on the ratio ofthe clearance volume 3to the volume swept by the piston. lhe fuel is either introduced beforecompression or is injected after compression and ignited either by theheat generated by the compression of the air or by electric spark orother suitable'means. The maximum amount of power which can be.developed' at each stroke of the engine'depends on the quantity of fuelwhich can'be burned in the cylinder, and this again. depends 'directlyon the mass of air available for its combustion, that is on the mass ofair in the clearance volume 3 at the 'end of the compression stroke.Since the compression pressure is limited by practical considerations,this mass s in practice approximately proportional to the volume of'thecompression. space.

In internal combustion and explosion engines as usually constructed thevolume of the compression space is fixed. Constructions are, however,already known, in which the compression volume is variable. The presentinvention consists of means producing such variation in a cranklessengine, and also includes meansfor varying the supply to the The piston10 reciprocating in the cylinder 11 serves to supply air for thecombustion-in the power cylinder through connecting passages or pipesnot shown in the drawing.

Valves 11 are provided in the cylinder head 12 for admitting air intothe cylinder 11 from the atmosphere and for controlling delivery of aircompressed in that cylinder to the power cylinder 1.; These valves maybe either automatically or mechanically operated. A

' portion 13 of'the cylinder wall at the end re- .ble of being closedand rendered effective' 15 -rnote fromthe head 12 of the cylinder'll, is

perforated but is constructed so as to be capaas a cylinder wall by themovable sleeve 14. In the drawing the position of the sleeve 14 is suchas togive the maximum degree of opening to the perforations, and as thepiston 10 overruns these perforations in its working stroke only theportion of the cylindeiybetween the cylinder head and the perforationsnearest thereto is available for delivering air to the .power'cylinder 1. By moving the sleeve Mtowards the left, a larger and largerportion of the-cylinder becomes so available, and a larger and largerquantity of air is compressed at each working stroke into the powercylinder 1,

- As already stated, the pressure to which such air can be compressed islimited by practical considerations. In order that the power attached tothe' engine frame,

the. gear wheel 18, which may be effected by cylinder 1 may receive thelarger quantities of air without exceeding thepermissiblepressure,'m'eans are provided for increasing the effective volume of thecompression space 'when required. For. this purposethe thrust bearing 8is mounted in a movable housing. 15, which 1s made capable of beingmoved longitudinally with respect to the frame 16 of the engine, and to'the'cylinder 1 which is fixed to the said frame. For this purpose thehousing 15 may be furnished with-a screw 17 which is provided withmeans, such as a' gear wheelv 18, for rotating it in. the nut 19Rotation of hand, or by gearing from the engineitself,

- or by an independent motor, thus moves.lon

diminished. Thus simultaneously the cyl-,

'gitudinally the engine shaft,[slant 5 and pistons 2 and 10'. If themotion is towards the right the compression space 3 in the-cylinder 1 isincreased, while the compression space 20 in the head of the cylinder 11and the extent to which the piston 10 overruns the perforated portion 13of the cylinder 11' are both inder 1 is adaptedto'receive more air, andthe cylinder 11 to supply an increased quantity.

,- The latter effect is enhanced if at the same time the sleeve 14 ismoved longitudinally to jthe left over the perforated portion 13 of thecylinder 11,. and for this purpose the gear wheel 18 may be arranged toengage with a car Wheel 21 mounted on a screw 22 engage ing in nut 28-attached to the sleeve-14, Alternatively, the sleeve 14 may beactuatedby' means independent of the means employed for moving thethrust bearing 8. I

In addition to the variation of the quantity of air admitted to thepower cylinder 1 by the means. above described, the quantity offuelsupplied to the cylinder may also be varied, as by varying the stroke ofthe fuel pump, or -by opening or closing a'by-pass valve on thefuel-supply pipe, or'by other 7,5

known means. 'Such mechanism controlling the fuel supply, may beautomatically coupled to the mechanism for varying the air supply, sothat thequantities of air and fuel increase or diminish together. But,in order to give a wider range of variation of power of the engine, thediminution of the fuel supply may be continued, after the air supplyhasbeen reduced to thelimit which the means of its" control permits anddown to' the point at j which the proportion of fuel to air islso' lowthat efficient combustion no longer takes- VVhen' more than one of theintakemeans may be omitted altogether if sufiicient ,variation of thequantity of combustion air is provided by the variation of the limitsofthe stroke of the piston 10 consequent on'themovement of thethrust-bearing 8.- It is alsoto be understood that the, thrustbearing 8,may be applieddirectly to the slant 5 instead of to a collar'onthe-shaft 4 and that the slant 5 may be arranged to slide longitudinally on the shaft instead of being rigidly mounted thereon, and thatvarious means other than a screw, may be employed for moving theslantlongitudinally. Thus it may be movedby the plunger of asmallhydraulic press applied with oil under pressure .from a pump driven bythe engine.

or other means may be controlled directly by the driver or may beeffected automatically according to .the speed or load of the enginethrough a centrifugal governor or like contrivance.

I claim: 1

x The move- 1 mentof the thrust bearing whether by a screw 1. Inan'internal combustion'engine, in

combination, a combustion cylinder, a swash plate having a fixedinclination anditsaxis of rotation parallel to the axis of thecombustion cylinder, a piston fitting said-combustion cylinder andarranged-to coact with and rotate said swash-plate, and means formovingsaid swash-plate and coacting piston in the direction of theiraxes, whereby the compression volume of the said cylinder is stroke ofthe piston remains constant.

2. In an internal combustion engine, in combination a combustioncylinder, a swashplate having a fixed inclination and its axis ofrotation parallel to the axis of the combustion cylinder, a pistonfitting said combustion cylinder and arranged to coact with and rotatesaid swash-plate, a compressor supplying working fluid-to the combustioncylinder, and means for moving said swashplate and coacting piston inthedirection of their axes and simultaneously varying the capacity ofsaid compressor whereby the quantity of' working fluid supplied to thecombustion cylinder is varied simultaneously with the compression volumetherein,-for the purposes set forth. V

3. In an ,internal combustion engine, in combination, a combustioncylinder, a swashplate having a fixed inclination and its axis ofrotation parallel to the axis of the combustion cylinder, a power pistonfitting said combustion cylinder and arranged to 'coact with and rotatesaid swash-plate, a compressor piston connected to said power piston andfitting in a compressor cylinder for supplying working fluid to thecombustion cylinder, and means for moving the said swash-plate andtherewith the coacting power piston and compressorpiston in thedirection of the axes of their cylinders, whereby the quantity ofworking fluid supplied to the combustion cylinder is variedsimultaneously with the compressor volume therein, for the purpose setforth. v i

4. In an internal combustion engine, a combustion cylinder, aswash-plate having its axis of rotation parallel to the axis of thecombustion cylinder, a power piston in'the, latter and arranged'to coactwith androtate said swash-plate, a compressor cylinder for supplyingworking fluid to the combustion 7 cylinder having perforations in thewall thereof, a compressor piston in the compression cylinderoverrunning said perforations to a variable, extent according to themovement of the compressor piston and swash plate, and means for movingthe swash plate and pistons in the direction of the axes of saidcylinders, whereby the quantity of working fluid supplied to thecombustion cylinder is varied simultaneously with the compressor volumetherein.

5. In an internal combustlon engine, a combustion cylinder, aswash-plate having its axis of rotation parallel to the axis of theeombustioncylinder, a power piston in the latter and arranged to'coactwith and rotate said swash-plate, a compressor cylinder for supplyingworking fluid to the combustion cylinder having perforations in the wallthereof, a compressor piston in the compression cylinder overrunningsaid perforations to a variable extent according to the movement of thecompressor piston and swash plate, means for moving the swash-plate andpistons in the direction of the axes of said cylinders, and a sleeveconcentric with the.

compression cylinder movable simultaneously with the swash-plate tocover said perforations to a variable extent.

6. In an internal combustion engine, a combustion cylinder, aswash-plate having its axis of rotation parallel to the axis of thecombustion cylinder, a power piston in the latter and arranged to coactwith and rotate said swash plate, a compressor cylinder for supplyingWorking fluid to the combustion cylinder having perforations in the wallthereof, a compressor piston in the compression cylinder overrunningsaid perforations to a variable extent according to the movement of thecompressor piston and swashplate, means for moving the swash-plate andpistons in the direction of the axes of said cylinders, a sleeveconcentric with the compression cylinder movable simultaneously with theswash plate to cover said perforations to a variable extent, a thrustbearing for the swash-plate, and means for simultaneously moving'thesleeve and thrust bearing axially. I

7. In an internal combustion engine, a combustion cylinder, aswash-plate having its axis of rotation parallel to the axis of thecombustion cylinder, a power piston in the latter and arranged to coactwith and rotate said swash-plate, a compressor cylinder for supplyingworking fluid to the combustion cylinder having perforations in-the wallthereof, a compressor piston in the compression cylinder overrunningsaid perforations to a variable extent according to the movethereto, athrust bearing on said shaft, and

means for moving the sleeve, thrust bearing and shaft longitudinally.

8. In an internal combustion engine, in combination, a swash-platerigidly mounted on a rotating shaft and movable longitudinallytherewith, a plurality of combustion cylinders surrounding the axis ofthe shaft and having their axes parallel thereto, a plurality ofcompressor cylinders each opposed to and coaxial with one of thecombustion cylinders, a power piston in each combustion cylinder and acompressor piston in each compression cylinder rigidly connectedtogether as'a reciprocating unit coacting with the rotating swash-plate,perforations in the wall of'eachof said compressor cylinders adapted tobe uncoveredto a greater or lesser extent by the compressor piston atthe outer thrust bearing of which the; rotating element is rigidlynounted upon the shaft and ing capable of axial movement with respect tothe cylinders, and means for 'moving' the thrust-bearing, shaft andswash-plate, re-

ciproeating units and sleeves in the direction of their axes for thepurposes set f0rth.- ANTHONYIGEORGIE MALDON MICHELL.

the stationary element is mounted in a hous-

